


Love is the only medicine

by Vex_ation



Category: Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures
Genre: Amnesia, Canon Divergence, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:09:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25750378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vex_ation/pseuds/Vex_ation
Summary: Sun spends all his time wondering what would have happened if had had gone into Ultra Space with her, if he could see her again, if the universe just gave him the chance to tell her "I'm sorry". When his opportunity comes, however, he realizes that getting things back to the way they were is going to take a lot longer than he thought.
Relationships: Moon & Sun (Pokemon Adventures), it's not a ship fic I know the title is misleading I just wanted to use some song lyrics I liked
Comments: 9
Kudos: 17





	Love is the only medicine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Skittymon](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skittymon/gifts).



It had been so many months since he had last seen her. Sometimes, when he was half-asleep and waiting for the brief respite that unconsciousness would bring, he would forget about her entirely. He was beginning to forget the finer details of her appearance, the exact color of her hair, and the rainbow of hues that sparkled in her eyes. Each day a little part of her faded into the back of his mind until he was left without much more than memories and the way she made him feel. He couldn’t recall the feel of her hand in his or the way her fingertips brushed his arm when she put salve on his bruises and berated him for injuries-- but he knew the chills that raced up his spine at her soft, confident touch. He knew how strange it felt to have her lithe, soft fingers intertwined with his, dirt and dried blood still caked into the calloused skin. He couldn’t remember how she spoke to him or the words they exchanged, but he knew how much he wanted to hear her voice again, even if it was just to hear her yell at him for being so reckless. He couldn’t imagine how she would react, he couldn’t remember her little idiosyncracies anymore, but he knew, moreso than he knew anything else, just how much he wanted to tell her he was sorry. 

It all happened so fast, but every damn second of it was burned into his memory. He saw Ultra Beasts in the sky, Lunala and Solalgeo fighting among them. He could see the portal sparking in the distance like a thundercloud, trainers on every side of him. He could see the gleaming white of the Aether uniforms, the howling of beasts and the cries of Pokemon locked in battle. He remembered seeing that woman, the blond one, paralyzed in a cage of tentacles and being dragged helplessly into the dark. And though he couldn’t quite remember her face, Sun knew exactly what Moon’s expression looked like-- a mixture of fear, shock, and maybe even a little sadness if he looked hard enough. But beneath it all was the determination that he admired about her-- the same determination that scared him just a little bit. The one thing he couldn’t see written on her face was hesitation, not even as she turned on her heel and sprinted through the horde of Ultra Beasts and Aether employees. 

He did not move, not even as he watched her reach out to help the one woman who deserved it the least. He just watched motionless as she barreled through Ultra Beasts, as she dashed fearlessly towards the Aether President, as she reached out her hand. Solalgeo and Lunala roared, their earthshaking bellows rocking him to his core. He saw the infinite cosmos within their fur and wings disappear as they charged towards the portal, drawing everything in like a black hole. And still, even amidst all that calamity, Sun did not move, not even as the portal collapsed before his eyes, not even as the president was dragged into the depths with a silent scream, not as the legends abandoned them or the one person he could call a friend disappeared before he could even say goodbye. Sun only stood motionless as 10 million yen fluttered silently to the ground like the ashes of everything that might have been. 

After that, the time seemed to move more slowly. Sun threw himself back into work, because what else was he supposed to do? He lost everything. He lost his jobs, his money, the last hope that maybe, eventually, his dream would come true. He lost Moon. He wasn’t sure why, but somehow that hurt the most. He had been working on his dream for years and had only known her for two months. Still, losing her because of his inaction hurt him like nothing else ever could, and he wasn’t sure why. Maybe it was because her wit was sharper than his, because he thought she could help him win back his island from Aether. Maybe it was because he thought she was pragmatic, so she could help him find a new dream, a new purpose. Or maybe it was because, in all his life, she was the first person he could truly call a friend. In the end, even if he could never get his island returned to its rightful woners, even if all those jobs were worth nothing, the thing he wanted most of all was just to have her back. He missed her. 

When the phone rang 4 in the morning, Sun was already out the door before Kukui could even hang up the phone. Something something wormhole, something something Mount Lanakila, something something Ultra Space. The finer details could wait: there was a portal, and where there were portals there were connections. Perhaps this was the end of this waiting. 

When Sun arrived it was nearing dawn. A fresh layer of snow coated the ground, the footsteps of everyone gathered already covered by fresh powder. It crunched under Sun’s feet-- part of him wished he wore better shoes or brought a jacket, but most of him was so caught up in the euphoria that he couldn’t feel the cold anyway. Instead, he rubbed his arms as he trekked up the side of the road. The bus didn’t run at that time of night (or morning, technically speaking) and so Sun had to walk. His legs felt like jelly, just about ready to fall off when the building and throng of people came into view. 

Sun squinted at the sky, wondering if the wavering sunrise atop the mountain was real or just an exhaustion-induced hallucination. But when the colors began to fold inwards on themselves like celestial origami, Sun suddenly found himself running. There was shouting up ahead, pokemon and people standing cautiously outside the portal as if waiting for some alien monstrosity to crawl out from the depths. 

Maybe, Sun thought, just maybe, this would be his chance. He ran past Hau, who was staring at the portal in shock. He ran past Burnet and Kukui, trying and failing to hold a shrieking Lillie back as she broke from their grip and joined Sun in his mad dash to the portal. Two pale, gaunt figures emerged from the darkness, flinching away from the dim glow of twilight and nearly collapsing into the snow. The rest of the colors, the dangers, the sounds and smells and sights faded away to white as Sun focused only on what was in front of him. It had been months, so many long months, and finally, finally, Sun could tell her the one thing he should’ve said since the beginning. His legs were burning, but finally, for once in his life, he felt passionate— truly passionate, about what he was about to say. 

“MOON!” he shouted, his voice betraying the months of sleepless nights, of agonizing reflection, of hoping and wishing and crying, waiting for the chance to see her again, to tell her how she made him change.

“Moon, I— I’m Sorry. I should have gone with you, I should have listened, I should have tried harder to help people, to be more like you. I... missed you Moon. I was scared for you.” Moon stared back at him, her expression vacant and almost confused. “Please.... don’t do that again.”

Moon tilted his chin up, slender fingers wiping away the tears pricking up in his eyes. Sun was ready to collapse, chest heaving and hands shaking as he failed to compose himself. How could he when she was finally back, when he could finally tell her how much she meant to him? All of his memories, all the little details, were finally coming back to him. He had forgotten the way her cheeks made her eyes crinkle up when she smiled, or how long her fingers were compared to his. He had forgotten the clearness of her gaze and her perfect posture, the way she held herself like a queen. She was regal and powerful even like this, and as the finer points of her appearance flushed back into his memory, Sun felt a huge weight be taken off his shoulders. No longer would be have to be kept in the dark, no longer would he have to stare at the ceiling and wonder if maybe, eventually, she would be able to come home. Now she was here, real and flawed and wonderful, and Sun had to stop himself before he collapsed sobbing in her arms. He took her hands in his, trying to calm the shaking, and wondered if she could see the depths of his emotions in his eyes, if she could see everything he felt that words could never hope to cover. Moon simply gave him a soft but concerned smile.

“I must apologize. Do I know you?”

Sun felt his heart drop, plummeting through his stomach and deep into the mountain. He felt the cold of winter finally seep into his skin, chilling him to his bones. Moon gently lifted her hands from his, letting his arms fall to his sides and the goosebumps race up and down his skin. She tilted her head slightly, looking a little creeped out as tears pricked at the corners of his eyes.

“I’m Sun… you.. Don’t remember me?” he whispered. Moon’s expression softened

“No.”

“Do you remember… anything?”

Sun watched Moon tense up in sudden defensiveness, as though she realized perhaps he shouldn’t be trusted. 

“Why are you asking?” she said, obviously testing her. 

“Because we were…” the words he wanted to say were on the tip of his tongue, unspoken, and suddenly he realized that maybe he shouldn’t say it out loud. To force her into the idea that they were close, no matter how much he yearned for it, seemed disingenuous. To tell her about all they had done together, all the adventures they had, to force her to think that they maybe, at one point, might have called each other… he couldn’t even think about it. It seemed wrong to force her. 

“You were friends!” announced someone behind Sun, and he found himself whirling around to see someone smiling down at him, unfazed by Moon’s confusion and Sun’s own bewilderment. Hau just placed a hand on Sun’s shoulder and gestured to him, repeating the same thing. 

“You were friends, you saved the world together!” he explained, and Moon nodded, obviously not sure whether or not to believe him. 

“We… I…” For once, Sun was at a loss for words. He just looked back to Hau, drowning in endless things to say and not able to get any of them out of his mouth. He just sat there, mouth opening and closing, as Hau flawlessly took over. 

“You saved the world, jumping into a Wormhole to save Miss Lusamine. She’s… well I assume you two spent some time together. Anyway, ask anyone, you’re a hero! And Sun was your partner in crime throughout it all-- you patched him up when he got hurt and he battled for you if you got stuck in a tight spot. You can ask the other trial captains or professors if you don’t believe me.”

Moon just glanced around, almost as though asking for permission to be excused from the conversation. Sighing, she just shook her head and walked towards Burnet, leaving Sun with a simple “I’m sure you know it already, but my name is Moon.”

Sun watched her go, feeling a familiar spark of hope like all those years ago burn up in his belly. Not all was lost. She was still here, she was still Moon, and maybe she didn’t remember him, but there was still a chance they could work this out. He didn’t have much, but he had his memories and he had her, so for now that would have to be enough. He turned to Hau when Moon disppeared into the crowd, unable to find the words to express how deep his gratitude ran. Hau smiled, wordlessly offering a malasada-- so Sun thanked him with a silent, fullbody bear hug. Hau stumbled back in surprise, quickly tucking the malasada back in the back before wrapping his arms around Sun. On the cold mountain winds, Sun was sure he could hear “you’re welcome”. 

The next few months were surprsingly slow, at least in Sun’s mind. Lillie and Gladion were working to rehabilitate Lusamine, who apparently had one too many run-ins with a Nihilego, while Hau acted as Team Skull’s unofficial parole officer (what a pair those two were) and Sun just spent days with Moon and the professors. The most problematic aspect of it all was not knowing Moon’s last name-- she didn’t remember it anymore either, so Kukui and Burnet spent all their days looking for a girl who, according to all their records, didn’t exist. Sun could only wonder what kind of bizarre family Moon came from that would forget about their missing daughter and scrub her name from records. That was a dilemma for another time, however. 

In the meantime, Sun got to take it slowly for the first time in his life, introducing Moon to the beauties of the island, to all his Pokemon old and new and all the other new friends he met along the way. There was something cathartic about watching her rediscover everything, about watching her awe and wonder about experiencing life for the first time once again. Part of him missed the old Moon, the one who would snark at him endlessly and roll her eyes every time he crawled to her with a new injury-- but as the weeks went by he could see glimpses of it peeking through in offhand comments. It was slow, and the memories usually came in small and random bursts, but there was progress. There was hope. And everytime Sun saw her, saw the way she was slipping, ever so slowly, back into the Moon he knew, he couldn’t help but smile. 

Naturally, Moon found poisons a lot sooner than anyone would have expected. As soon as Sun explained that this or that plant was poisonous, Moon was gawking at it, shoving it into her bag, and bringing it back to pick it apart in Burnet and Kukui’s living room (he couldn’t imagine they appreciated it, but memory loss was a tricky thing). Moon loved her Pokemon, geeked out about poison, and still held all the knowledge and snark within her (even if she had no idea where she got it from). In Mallow’s cooking lessons and late night flights with Kiawe, Sun got to watch Moon really see the beauty of the island, and in those moment the real Moon came shining through, ever curious and slow to open up. Sometimes, Sun could see glimpses of her in all her regained-memories glory from back in the days when she would bully him every time he got hurt. He would see that fury spark in her eyes, and he would sit there, hoping she would call him a name or roll her eyes but inevitably patch him up anyone, because in the end that silent altriuism and gentle bullying was everything that made Moon herself. It was slow, but Sun knew one day she would come back to him completely. He knew in moments like those that he would bash in both his kneecaps just to see that look on her face one more time.

Surprsingly enough, that’s what it took. The two of them were surfing-- Moon had warmed up to the islands a lot more than he thought she would, and so he had a tendency to take her along just to do… whatever, really. They visited forests and plains, went ghost hunting in abandoned megamarts, and hung out with random trainers. They took day trips to the city, went on wild goose chases for weird poisonous berries (which Sun regrettably almost ate at least three times) and just wandered like a bunch of curious vagabounds. It was, without a doubt, the most fun Sun had ever had in his entire life. 

As it turned out, Sun wasn’t great at surfing. At all. Moon wasn’t great either, and only went over a few waves before quitting and reading a book on the sand, but Sun was nothing if not stubborn. Though the Mantine he was riding looked a bit apprehensive-- Sun had to admit the waves were rather large-- he wasn’t about to give up. He made every attempt to ride those waves for all they were worth, but as it happened, deliveries and riding Sharpedo around the surf did not prepare him for the balance and quick thinking required to really surf Alola’s famous ocean. And so during an especially big wave, his feet slipped right off the Mantine and the force of the curling foam just about snapped him in half. He felt something crack in his legs, and though every kick felt like a punch in the gut, he pulled himself up to the waves and dragged himself to the shoreline, where Moon was sitting and staring at him. Something was broken, if not strained, and though Sun didn’t think it anything out of the ordinary, Moon was staring at him as though she had suddenly had an epipheny. 

Suddenly, Sun saw something that changed his life. He saw the curl of her lip and a fire in her eyes and suddenly she was marching up to him, kicking sand everywhere as she put her hands on her hips. A little part of him didn’t dare to hope, but then she was practically on top of him, dragging random things out of her backpack with unmatched confidence and examining his legs with a piercing gaze and a gentle touch, and as his breath hitched and he smiled at her, she said: 

“What the HELL were you thinking you moron? I won’t be around to patch you up forever!”

And though Sun did want to, he couldn’t stop the happy tears from flowing down his face or his stupid looking smile or the happiness that made him positively giddy. She looked at him quizzically, but he smiled and announced: 

“Glad to have you back.”

  
  



End file.
